Google: Can’t Find Server

Today I tried visiting Google to search for something, but then it said that it couldn’t find the server. This seemed very strange because I had just been there minutes before. I checked Gmail (since I had it open) and it worked just fine. I checked another website and that one was displayed. So, I tried Google again and it told me it couldn’t find the server, again.

I couldn’t figure out what was wrong, so I told David and learned something new. He told me to do the following:

1. Open up a command prompt. (Start > Run: type cmd and press enter.)
2. Type ipconfig /flushdns
3. Press enter.

I checked Google and the search engine was found!

Steps to Installing Yakuake

For those of you who are coming here for help installing Yakuake, you may not have found what you were looking for. I apologize. I should have included those steps in my entry: Terminal on Demand. Or, you could just read the INSTALL file that is provided with Yakuake. This file goes into a lot more detail if you’re having problems.

I’m not going to provide a very detailed step-by-step tutorial, because I hope that most of you know how to follow a few commands. If you’re ready to begin, open a terminal and follow these steps:

1. Enter in the su command to log in as root.
2. After logging in, make sure you’re in the Yakuake directory that was created after extracting the compressed archive. I will assume you know how to use the cd command.
3. Enter in ./configure (this may take a while)
4. Enter in make
5. Enter in make install
6. Enter in make clean to remove files from the source code directory. (optional)

Assuming everything went smoothly without any errors during steps 3-5, Yakuake should be installed and ready to use. As I noted in my previous entry (linked above), I recommend changing the Kerry Beagle Search’s F12 shortcut, if you have that on your system. Yakuake uses F12 to open.

Create Your Own Coloring Pages

I found a tutorial for creating coloring pages from photos. This is a great idea. It can also be great as gifts from the kids for other family members. Plus, this is a good way to save money on all those coloring books!

I opened the picture I wanted to use and created a new layer. Then I used the photocopy filter and adjusted the settings for detail and darkness until I was satisfied. Then I created a new adjustment layer and changed the shadow and highlight levels. I was tempted to use the lasso tool to cut the background out of the picture, because I think this would make a better coloring page if it was just the car alone, but that would involve more work and I was just trying this out. Read the tutorial for detailed steps.

I chose to use my last project as the picture for this coloring page. Click the preview on the right to view the full image.

If you are here searching for actual coloring pages of any of the Cars characters, take a look at this Disney Cars page. Coloring Book has the best selection of Cars coloring pages.

Pixar’s Cars Lightning McQueen Eclipse

I have very little experience with Photoshop when it comes to customizing images, but I do know some basics from the training I received at work. I came across a tutorial for transforming a picture of a car into one of the cars from the movie Cars.

Because I thought it was cute, I gave it a try. The steps on the tutorial could go into more detail for some of us who aren’t that great with Photoshop, but I managed to figure things out. I probably could have done better, but I’m satisfied with how it turned out and glad I was able to learn something new. Plus, my son enjoyed seeing it; he loves the movie. As I was adding the eyes to the car, he immediately mentioned the movie.

For my car, I used a picture of David’s Mitsubishi Eclipse that I had taken a few years ago. Since it was raining, the car has a wet look to it. I would have preferred a nicer picture, but I had to work with what I had. For the eyes and mouth, I went with Lightning McQueen because he’s a red car and I knew it would be less of a challenge of getting it to blend in. Click on the preview on the right to view the full image.

A couple other people have tried this as well. I didn’t know this at first, but one of them (Adam) is the one who created the theme I added to my website just yesterday! Anyway, here’s Adam’s car and here’s the other one by Shawn from Sporadic Nonsense. They both did much better than I did, because I’m a beginner at this and don’t have much experience at all. Good job you two!